Sergei Torop, the self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus Christ known to followers as “Vissarion,” has been sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security prison camp by a Siberian court, marking the dramatic downfall of one of Russia’s most notorious cult leaders.
The 64-year-old former traffic officer, who founded the Church of the Last Testament in the early 1990s, was convicted alongside two of his closest aides—Vladimir Vedernikov and Vadim Redkin, who received 11 and 12-year sentences respectively. The men were found guilty of inflicting physical and psychological harm, extorting money, and manipulating followers within their isolated religious commune in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.
Torop’s arrest in September 2020 came after a dramatic raid by Russian security forces on the remote settlement known as the City of the Sun, home to thousands of his followers. The community, centered around strict spiritual discipline, veganism, and a rejection of modern medicine, drew global attention for its quasi-apocalyptic teachings and devotion to Torop, who claimed he was “the living word of God.”
“It’s all very complicated,” Torop once told a reporter in 2002. “But to keep things simple, yes, I am Jesus Christ. I am not God… But everything that God wants to say, he says through me.”
Authorities painted a darker picture. Prosecutors described decades of psychological manipulation and exploitation, with followers denied medical care and pressured into donating all their savings to the church. At least 16 individuals suffered moral or physical harm, with six developing serious health issues. Victims testified about deaths caused by medical neglect, and teachings that framed illness as punishment for spiritual weakness.
Former follower Elena Melnikova told the BBC, “There were these ridiculous situations when adults and children died because they didn’t receive medical assistance… We were told, ‘Know thyself. From now on, the flesh must heal itself.’”
As punishment, the court ordered Torop and his co-defendants to pay 45 million rubles (around £417,000) in compensation to victims.
Born in 1961 in Krasnodar, Torop lived a modest life before his religious transformation in 1990, the year he claimed he was “reborn” following job loss. Blending elements of Russian Orthodoxy, Buddhism, and ecological spirituality, he preached about the coming end of the world and urged followers to live simply and harmoniously.
His church, founded just months before the fall of the Soviet Union, attracted more than 10,000 followers globally. Life in the City of the Sun revolved around a calendar based on his own life events, including feast days and rituals centered on his teachings.
Despite his conviction, some followers remain fiercely loyal. Others, however, see justice finally served after decades of manipulation.
Torop will not be eligible for release until he is 76. His sect, now leaderless, remains under scrutiny as Russia continues its crackdown on extremist religious movements.
